Trump’s tariffs are no match for the growing U.S. trade deficit

President Trump's "America first" policy, it turns out, has yet to yield much in the way of results, economically-speaking. In fact, the U.S. trade deficit is actually growing.

Despite implementing a wide range of tariffs last year, particularly on goods imported from China, the United States' trade deficit has swelled to its largest peak since 2008, the Commerce Department announced on Wednesday. In terms of merchandise, The Washington Post reports, the deficit has reached its highest point ever. The same is true of the trade gap with China, which hit a record $419 billion. The report also shows that imports from Europe, Asia, North America, and Africa far outweigh U.S. exports.

When taking the services sector — which typically runs a surplus — into account, the gap narrowed, the Post reported, reflecting a "deterioration of more than $100 billion from the figure that Trump inherited" from former President Barack Obama.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Per the Post, economists attribute the deficit growth to "broad economic forces," including a "chronic shortfall in national savings" brought by last year's tax cuts — business and consumers spent their extra cash on imported goods, while the "overvalued dollar" slowed exports.

The Commerce Department's report comes before a possible new trade deal between the U.S. and China, with the latter proposing to increase spending on U.S. goods in exchange for scaling back tariffs. But the Post reports that economists are not optimistic about the results there either, arguing that while the deal would shrink the trade gap with China specifically, it would also likely divert U.S. commodities from other foreign markets, leaving the "global balance largely unchanged."